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The Blitz
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Book Cover Design – The Basics
Indie Authors need good, professional book covers to sell books. Here’s how to do that.
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What’s in a Book Cover Design?
Should you design your own book cover? Um, no. Unless you have degrees and years of experience with graphics and book marketing, I really recommend you work with a designer who knows where they’re doing.
However, you do need to know what to expect with a book cover so you can work with your designer on something you like and something you know will work with your genre. Do not hire a designer until you have done your research on books like yours. Pick two or three to share with the designer so s/he has an idea of what you’re looking for.
Nonfiction
- Title – clear, concise, short. This is not the time to be cute or complicated or fancy. Tell the reader exactly what they’ll learn in your book: 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Too Big to Fail, The Intelligent Investor, Social Media Marketing for Authors
- Subtitles – use them with few words (5 or less) to draw the reader in with expanded information
- Your Name – Make this big. If it’s too small, you’re missing an opportunity to help make you the subject matter expert on something right off the bat
- White space is your friend. Busy, chaotic covers that drown the title will confuse and turn off your reader
Fiction
- Title – again, be clear and concise. Creative is fun but doesn’t necessarily tell the reader what adventure they are about to get into. What images do these titles give you right off the bat? Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Fried Green Tomatoes. The President is Missing. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
- Subtitles – typically these denote a series title more than anything else but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them. Just don’t make them too long or complex
- Your Name – you don’t need “written by” on the cover unless you are going for an old-school theme. There is some debate on the size of your name. I argue it should be at least the same size as the title, even if you aren’t well-known. You’ll get there, and you want people focused on you when they think about your book.
Working with a Cover Designer
Designers can be found from reputable platforms like Reedsy or through professional organizations like Alliance for Independent Authors and the Writers Guild. Before you sign a contract on your cover design, do the following:
- Ask for samples
- Ask for references
- Decide what photos you’ll use
- Will you buy from a repository
- Will you have the designer create from scratch
- Decide if your designer can reuse photos from other covers (don’t!)
- Agree that you own the copyright when you’re done
- Agree to how many design revisions you get
After you sign the contract, do this: COMMUNICATE! If you don’t like something, talk to your designer. There is nothing worse than paying for something you don’t like. Your designer is not telepathic, you must talk to him or her and let them know what’s going on. That doesn’t mean you get unlimited complaints. This is a working relationship and requires flexibility by both designer and author. Don’t worry, with good communication, you’ll get the book cover your aiming for.
For more information on book cover designs, see:
- Ingram Spark Authors Guide to Book Subtitles
- Writer’s Digest Anatomy of a Book Cover
- Reedy’s Guide to Book Covers